‘Suicide Squad’ Delivers Our First Look at Jared Leto as a Very Tattooed, Very Insane Joker
Well that didn’t take long. Following David Ayer’s recent teaser image of the character and Jared Leto’s own candid Snapchat pic, the director has officially revealed the first legitimate photo of Leto in character as the Joker in Suicide Squad. He’s very pale, very tattooed and totally insane. And he’s nothing like any Joker you’ve ever seen before.
Ayer took to Twitter to reveal the first official photo:
And it’s…something. It’s unlike any Joker we’ve seen in film, television or comic books before. This is definitely a new, inventive take on the classic character, although he still has his signature green hair, wild eyes and pale skin. But let’s talk about those tattoos: he’s got the Joker’s classic, maniacal laughter down one arm and on his chest, which perfectly captures imagery from the comics. And on his other arm, the iconic Joker smile. (That “damaged” forehead tat is a bit much.)
But the other tattoos — the playing cards, the Joker clown, etc. — are very much prison tats, which is in keeping with rumors we’d heard previously that the Joker would be incarcerated at the beginning of the film. According to reports, Joker is locked up for killing Batman’s sidekick, when Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller approaches him with an offer he can’t refuse.
Also curious about the villain’s new look are those nutty silver caps on his teeth — it’s very Joker meets Marilyn Manson by way of the Dirty South. And while the first reaction to the photo is shocked laughter, upon further inspection, I’m kind of into it? It’s certainly different than anything we expected.
Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5, 2016.
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